1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for controlling a cooling air supply of a refrigerator, and in particular to a device for controlling a cooling air supply of a refrigerator which is capable of coping with a load on a chilling chamber and performing an intensive cooling at a part at which the load has occurred by adjusting a quantity of cooling air discharged into the chilling chamber.
2. Description of the Background Art
Generally, a refrigerator is partitioned into a freezing camber for preserving frozen foods and making ice and a chilling chamber preserving cold foods, and a cooling cycle for supplying cooling air to the freezing chamber and the chilling chamber is included.
Presently, a refrigerator can be largely divided into a general type arranging a freezing chamber and a chilling chamber up and down and a side by side type arranging a freezing chamber and a chilling chamber side by side mainly applied to a large refrigerator.
FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating a cooling air supply device for a side by side type refrigerator in accordance with the prior art, and FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view illustrating the cooling air supply device for the side by side type refrigerator in accordance with the prior art.
The conventional refrigerator is constructed with a main body 104 having a pair of doors 102 opened/closed at front surface, a freezing chamber 106 placed at one of the right and left sides of the main body 104 and preserving frozen foods, a chilling chamber 108 demarcated by a mullion wall 110, placed at one of the right and left sides of the main frame 104 and preserving cold foods, a ventilation fan 114 installed to the upper portion of the freezing chamber 106 and compulsorily ventilating air cooled by passing an evaporator 112 of a cooling cycle to the freezing chamber 106, and a device for controlling a cooling air supply in order to supply the cooling air ventilated by the ventilation fan 114 to the chilling chamber 108.
A plurality of shelves 114 are installed inside the freezing chamber 106 and the chilling chamber 108 at a certain intervals in order to preserve foods by layers, and vegetable containers 116, 117 for preserving vegetables are placed at the lower portion of the chilling chamber 108.
The device for controlling the cooling air supply includes a cooling air supply path 118 formed at the upper portion of the million wall 110 so as to suck the cooling air ventilated by the ventilation fan 114 installed to the freezing chamber 106 into the chilling chamber 108, and a cooling air discharge duct 120 installed to the upper portion of the chilling chamber 108, connected with the cooling air supply path 118 and discharging the cooling air supplied to the cooling air supply path 118 to the chilling chamber 108.
And, a cooling air suction path 122 sucking the cooling air finished the cooling operation while circulating the chilling chamber 108 into the evaporator 112 of the cooling cycle is formed at the lower portion of the million wall 110.
The cooling air discharge duct 120 is transversely placed at the upper portion of the chilling chamber 108, connected to the cooling air supply path 118 and includes a plurality of cooling air discharge holes 124 formed at the front surface in order to discharge the cooling air to the chilling chamber 108.
In the side by side type refrigerator, when the cooling cycle is operated and the ventilation fan 220 is rotated, the air cooled while passing the evaporator 112 is discharged into the freezing chamber 106 by a ventilation pressure of the ventilation fan 220 and supplied to the chilling chamber 108 through the cooling air supply path 118.
The cooling air supplied to the cooling air supply path 118 is sucked into the cooling air discharge duct 120 and discharged inside the chilling chamber 108 through the plurality of cooling air discharge holes 124 formed at the cooling air discharge duct 120. The cooling air discharged inside the chilling chamber 108 performs the cooling operation of cold foods while circulating the chilling chamber 108, the cooling air finished the cooling operation is sucked into the cooling air cycle through the cooling air suction path 122 formed at the lower portion of the million wall 110 and is cooled again while passing the evaporator 112.
However, in the device for controlling the cooling air supply of the refrigerator in accordance with the prior art, a quantity of cooling air discharged into a chilling chamber through a plurality of cooling air discharge holes is regular, when a temperature inside the chilling chamber rises instantly by an opening/closing of a chilling chamber door or coming in and out of foods, a cooling time for lowering the chilling chamber temperature increases, and it is impossible to coping with a load on the chilling chamber appropriately.
In addition, when the chilling chamber is cooled by cooling air passing the plurality of cooling air discharge holes, because the cooling air is continuously discharged into the chilling chamber after a temperature inside the cooling air reaches an optimum level, an efficiency of a refrigerator is lowered.
In addition, because cooling air is uniformly discharged to a whole chilling chamber although a load has occurred on a certain part of the chilling chamber due to lots of preserved foods, a temperature distribution inside the whole chilling chamber is irregular.
In order to solve above-mentioned problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a device for controlling a cooling air supply of a refrigerator which is capable of regularly maintaining a temperature distribution inside a whole chilling chamber in a short time by intensively discharging cooling air to a part when a temperature at the part rises due to lots of preserved foods, etc.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a device for controlling a cooling air supply of a refrigerator which is capable of coping with a temperature rise of a refrigerator actively by supplying lots of cooling air instantly by applying a discharge pressure to cooling air discharged into a chilling chamber when a temperature inside the chilling chamber rises due to lots of preserved foods or opening/closing of a door, etc.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a device for controlling a cooling air supply of a refrigerator which is capable of improving an efficiency of a refrigerator by supplying cooling air to a freezing chamber by varying a flow path of cooling air supplied to a chilling chamber when a temperature inside the chilling chamber reaches an optimum level.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned objects, a device for controlling a cooling air supply of a refrigerator in accordance with the present invention includes a cooling air supply path formed at the upper portion of a mullion wall demarcating a chilling chamber and a freezing chamber and supplying cooling air ventilated by a ventilation fan to the chilling chamber, a cooling air guide path diverged from the cooling air supply path and guiding the cooling air to each part of the chilling chamber, a cooling air duct connected to the cooling air guide path and discharging the cooling air to each partition demarcated by shelves of the chilling chamber and a cooling air control means intensively discharging the cooling air to a partition at which a load has occurred of the partitions demarcated by the shelves of the chilling chamber.
The cooling control means includes a temperature sensing means respectively installed to each partition demarcated by the selves of the chilling chamber, an opening/closing means respectively formed at each of a plurality of cooling air discharge holes formed at each partition of the chilling chamber and performing an opening/closing operation of each of the plurality of cooling air discharge holes and a control unit operating the opening/closing means selectively according to an electric signal applied from the temperature sensing means.
The temperature sensing means is constructed with a plurality of temperature sensors respectively installed to each partition demarcated by the shelves of the chilling chamber, detecting a temperature of each partition and applying it to the control unit.
The opening/closing means includes a valve plate rotatively installed to each cooling discharge hole and performing an opening/closing operation of the cooling air discharge hole and a stepping motor connected to a rotational axis of the valve plate and rotating the valve plate according to the electric signal applied to the control unit.
The valve plate is formed as a flat plate shape.
A device for controlling a cooling air supply of a refrigerator in accordance with the present invention includes a cooling air supply path formed at the upper portion of a mullion wall demarcating a chilling chamber and a freezing chamber and supplying cooling air ventilated by a ventilation fan to the chilling chamber, a cooling air guide path diverged from the cooling air supply path and guiding the cooling air to each part of the chilling chamber, a cooling air duct connected to the cooling air guide path and discharging the cooling air to each partition diverged by shelves of the chilling chamber and a ventilation means installed to the side of the cooling air supply path, applying a ventilation pressure to the cooling air supplied to the chilling chamber and performing an opening/closing operation of the cooling air supply path.
The ventilation means is constructed as a blower installed to a position at which the cooling air guide path is diverged from the cooling air supply path, closing the cooling air supply path when a temperature inside the chilling chamber reaches a set value and applying a ventilation pressure to the cooling air.
A device for controlling a cooling air supply of a refrigerator includes a cooling air supply path formed at the upper portion of a mullion wall demarcating a chilling chamber and a freezing chamber and supplying cooling air ventilated by a ventilation fan to the chilling chamber, a cooling air guide path diverged from the cooling air supply path and guiding the cooling air to each part of the chilling chamber, a cooling air duct connected to the cooling air guide path and discharging the cooling air to each partition demarcated by shelves of the chilling chamber, a blower installed to the side of the cooling air supply path and applying a ventilation pressure to the cooling air supplied to the chilling chamber and a cooling air control means discharging the cooling air intensively to a partition at which a load has occurred of the partitions demarcated by the shelves of the chilling chamber.
A device for controlling a cooling air supply of a refrigerator in accordance with the present invention includes a cooling air supply path formed at the upper portion of a mullion wall demarcating a chilling chamber and a freezing chamber and supplying cooling air ventilated by a ventilation fan to the chilling chamber, a cooling air guide path diverged from the cooling air supply path and guiding the cooling air to each part of the chilling chamber, a left cooling air duct diverged from the cooling air guide path in the left direction and discharging the cooling air to the left side of the refrigerating chamber, a right cooling air duct diverged from the cooling air guide path in the right direction and discharging the cooling air to the right side of the refrigerating chamber and a cooling air control means selectively discharging the cooling air through the left cooling air duct and the right cooling air duct in accordance with a position at which a load has occurred.
The cooling control means includes a left temperature sensor respectively installed to the left wall surface of the chilling chamber and sensing a temperature at the left side of the chilling chamber, a right temperature sensor installed to the right wall surface of the chilling chamber and sensing a temperature at the right side of the chilling chamber, an opening/closing means selectively connecting a flow path between the cooling air supply path and the left/right cooling air guide ducts and a control unit operating the opening/closing means in accordance with an electric signal applied from the left temperature sensor and the right temperature sensor.
The opening/closing means includes a valve plate rotatively installed at a turning point between the cooling air supply path and the cooling air guide path and a stepping motor connected to the rotational axis of the valve plate and adjusting a rotational angle of the valve plate.
The valve plate rotatively installed to the diverged centrical portion of the cooling air supply path is formed as a disk shape respectively operated as a neutral position regularly supplying a cooling air to the left and the right cooling air guide paths, a left closing position closing the left cooling air guide path and a right closing position closing the right cooling air guide path.
A device for controlling a cooling air supply of a refrigerator in accordance with the present invention includes a cooling chamber formed at the upper portion of a chilling chamber and respectively supplying cooling air to a freezing chamber and the chilling chamber, a cooling air supply path formed at the upper portion of a mullion wall demarcating the freezing chamber and the chilling chamber and supplying the cooling air from the cooling chamber to the chilling chamber, a cooling air duct discharging the cooling air supplied to the cooling air supply path to the chilling chamber and a cooling air control means switching a cooling air flow path in order to supply the cooling air supplied to the chilling chamber to the freezing chamber when a temperature of the chilling chamber reaches a set temperature.
The cooling air control means includes a freezing chamber discharge duct connected between the cooling air supply path and the freezing chamber and discharging the cooling air supplied from the cooling air supply path to the freezing chamber, an opening/closing means installed to the side of the cooling air supply path and closing one of the cooling air supply path and the freezing chamber discharge duct, a temperature sensor installed to the chilling chamber and sensing a temperature of the chilling chamber and a control unit operating the opening/closing means in accordance with an electric signal applied from the temperature sensor.
The freezing chamber discharge duct is formed at the side surface of the freezing chamber, interconnected with the cooling air supply duct and includes a plurality of cooling air discharge holes discharging the cooling air to the freezing chamber.
The opening/closing means includes a valve plate rotatively installed at a turning point between the cooling air supply path and the cooling air guide path and selectively closing one of the cooling air supply path and the cooling air guide path and a stepping motor connected to the rotational axis of the valve plate and rotating the valve plate.
The valve plate is formed as a disk shape facilitative for closing the cooling air supply path and the cooling air guide path.